7 quick takes

16 August

7 quick takes

Good morning! Time for a quick blog because I have loads to do this week. If all goes well, this is the last ‘normal’ week before a few weeks of abnormal. Next Monday, we’ll go to Lilongwe for our PCR test, and we’ll stay there until we fly to Namibia on Wednesday for my sister-in-law’s wedding. And if things stay as they are, the girls and I will fly from Namibia to Europe! Just thinking about it makes me emotional. It’s been almost 4,5 years since I saw my siblings and since I spend time in my home country, and that’s just way too long.
This week I’m busy; wrapping up some work assignments, coordinating a carpenter who is working on a few things at our house, chasing my second COVID jab, and organising a suitcase full of presents for all the people we missed for so long. Exciting stuff.
I say ‘chasing my second COVID jab’ because dear people, you have no idea what a privilege it is, if getting vaccinated or not is your own choice. To my great surprise, I was able to get my first shot four months ago. But after that, Malawi ran out of vaccinations. For weeks, nobody got one, whether they would have liked to get one or not. Now, they are slowly coming into the country again, but when they are available, they run out within days. There is no government warning you when you can come and get yours or when they are available. Instead, I follow the news and saw that a new batch had landed on Saturday. At seven this morning, the girls and I were already at the local clinic to find out if they had come here, which was not the case. At the same time, Hartmut phoned to tell me that Salima hospital had it, perhaps I should travel there (in a car it takes two hours to get there, public transport would take a whole lot longer). We debated what to do, but at our clinic they promised me that they will have them tomorrow. So for now I’ll stay here and hope that they are right. And you know, in the midst of all of that, I am still privileged. I can read the newspaper to stay on top of things, I have a country wide network that can help me find out where vaccines are available, and when I need to travel for a few hours to get one, I have the money to do so. The same can’t be said about the majority of the people here. Having access to the vaccination is a real privilege that one should not take for granted.
In the bay in front of our house is a ship wreck. Actually there are several, one could almost call it a ‘graveyard for ships’ and it’s very exciting. But there is one only a few meters out, and that one fascinates the girls immensely. Where does the boat come from? Who does it belong to? And the most important question; does it perhaps hide a treasure? They have made a plan of action that involves drawing a map of the bay to find out from where you can see the wreck to locate where people live that might have been witnesses. That want to draw the ship and find out if there are similar vessels that can provide information and, most excitingly, snorkelling in and around the wreck to find out all the details. Yesterday it was time for step one. We packed a picknick basket and took a kayak to the wreck. Most of it is underwater. Only the roof of the wheelhouse is sticking out, so we tied our kayak to the house and had our breakfast on the roof. After that, the girls donned their goggles to look underwater, which proved to be much scarier than expected. For now, they only looked, exploring more closely will happen next time. I love it. The suspense is addictive and although Hartmut and I have a fairly good idea whose boat it is and whom we should ask to confirm that, it’s much more fun to let the girls be in charge and to let them unravel the mystery.
Last week we went to Blantyre to fetch my driving licence. We were told that it was going to be a matter of minutes, but we have been in Malawi long enough to know that that would not be true. We hoped to be out within two hours, or, in the worst case, before lunch. Well, Malawi always delivers on the unexpected. It took us five hours of queuing before I had the desired card in my hands. But now I have it, and I am so happy because I haven’t been able to drive since April last year. My card got stolen during the break in and because of Covid I could not travel to renew it. But that’s all over now and I could not be happier.
‘It’s the nest from an African Palm Swift.’ Sophie says. In her hands, she holds a nest that fell down from a tree. It’s a peculiar little nest, built inside a leaf. It seems as if the bird glued little feathers together to shape it. Two small eggs are glued on the bottom. Sophie has never seen a nest like this before, but she is convinced that she is right because she has heard about this bird. I send a picture to an ornithologist that we know, to confirm. ‘You can just rely on your little expert,’ he says. It’s so much fun to see how much Sophie knows about birds and how much she loves it. You can imagine which part of our Europe trip she is looking forward to most; a continent full of birds that she has never seen before.
I hope you don’t mind, but I wrote more than I anticipated. The ‘problem’ is that there is always so much happening. But I am sure that that’s a good problem to have. I wish you all a great and eventful week, or uneventful if that’s what you prefer.